VZCZCXRO3636
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #7126 3470845
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 130845Z DEC 06
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5361
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0695
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0353
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0374
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0369
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0465
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 5690

C O N F I D E N T I A L SHANGHAI 007126 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND DRL/PHD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/13/2031 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI PETITIONER ACTIVISTS UPDATE 
 
REF: SHANGHAI 5262 AND PREVIOUS 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mary Tarnowka, Chief, Political/Economic Section 
, U.S. Consulate Shanghai. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  Shanghai petitioners complained to Poloff 
during a December 7 meeting that the Chinese government 
continued to closely monitor their movements and prevented many 
petitioners from meeting or traveling to Beijing.  They expected 
that prominent petitioners Mao Hengfeng and Chen Xiaoming would 
soon stand trial.  Mao faced charges of damaging property, while 
Chen was accused of illegally filming government property. 
None of the petitioners planned on participating in Shanghai's 
upcoming district elections and said, for them, the elections 
had no meaning.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C)  During a meeting with Poloff on December 7, Shanghai 
Petitioner Activists Fu Yuxia, Wu Xuewei and Chen Enquan said 
that local authorities continued to closely monitor petitioners 
and prevented them from meeting or even traveling to Beijing. 
Wu added that those who were able to travel to Beijing were 
often detained by local authorities and immediately returned to 
Shanghai.  He said police often beat those who resisted and 
noted that there was a recent case in which the police beat a 
50-year old female petitioner from Shanghai after she refused to 
follow orders. 
 
¶3.  (C) When asked about the upcoming district elections in 
Shanghai, they said that they were not planning on voting since 
the elections had no meaning.  No one knew who the candidates 
were and it was unlikely that the elections would lead to any 
positive changes.  They said that they were allowed to vote and, 
in fact, local authorities had encouraged them to participate. 
But, no one they knew was interested in participating in the 
elections. 
 
¶4.  (C) They also provided an update on the situation of 
prominent Shanghai petitioners Mao Hengfeng, Chen Xiaoming, and 
Xu Zhengqing.  According to Wu, who is also Mao's husband, Mao 
was still being held on charges of damaging property during her 
detention in a government leased hotel room.  Since being 
detained on March 31, Mao had been subjected to both physical 
and psychological torture.  She now had problems with her vision 
and difficulty walking.  She also had been confined to a cell 
too small for a bed, making it difficult for her to sleep.  Wu 
predicted that Mao's trial would take place in the upcoming 
weeks and said he was busy looking for a new lawyer.  He fired 
Mao's previous lawyer because he was not willing to meet with 
Mao on a routine basis. 
 
¶5.  (C) According to Fu, Chen Xiaoming who was detained in 
February, would also likely stand trial in the near future.  Ms. 
Fu had been in regular contact with Chen's parents.  She said 
that the parents had heard that Chen's case was no longer 
classified as a state secret case.  He was now facing charges of 
illegally filming government offices. 
 
¶6.  (C) Fu also had heard from the family of Xu Zhengqing.  Xu 
was currently serving a three-year sentence for disrupting 
public order.  Fu said that during his family's November visit, 
authorities allowed family members to speak to Xu for only 10 
minutes.  In previous visits, family members were given up to an 
hour to speak with Xu.  Fu said that authorities were worried 
that if Xu were given an hour to meet with family members, he 
might pass on information about his conditions to visitors who 
would then provide this information to the foreign media and 
human rights groups.  She noted that recently released prisoner 
Zheng Enchong's wife often relayed such information to the media 
and human rights group to maintain pressure on the Chinese 
government.  Fu said the government wanted to prevent this from 
happening again and was keeping a close eye on Xu and his 
relatives. 
 
¶7. (C)  According to Fu, Zheng Enchong continued to be closely 
monitored.  He was not allowed to leave his house and had a 
guard posted at his door to monitor all visitors.  She added 
that authorities had also tapped Zheng's phone. 
 
JARRETT